


A Pinch of Hope

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Hopeful Rey, Love Confessions, Minor Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Minor Rose Tico/Jannah, Miscommunication, Missing Scene, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Past Finn/Rose Tico, Past Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Even in a sad ending, there’s always a pinch of hope.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars)
Kudos: 15
Collections: Finnrey Fanfic Connection, The_Multishipper_Post_TROS_Happy_Place_Collection, Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	A Pinch of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Unhappy Ending
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

They’d won. The Resistance had won. So why didn’t Rey feel victorious? Maybe she had when she’d first landed near the Resistance Base, the relief that her friends (yes, even Poe, as insufferable as he could be) were safe, but in the end, Rey knew that it was only a matter of time before the euphoria wore off and she remembered that they had lost someone that day.   
  
Ben. She didn’t know how to feel about his death. He had done terrible things to her and her friends; she wasn’t naive. But he had also given her tremendous gifts. When he had been kind to her after the Mirror Cave (even if that might have been twisted by his desire to manipulate her), when he had saved her when the effort of defeating Palpatine was, simply, too much to bear.   
  
She had lived, and Ben had died. She, with the Palpatine taint and the family curse. Her.   
  
“Hey.”  
  
Finn’s voice. Even as Rey looked up from where she was sitting in the Falcon’s bunk (Poe was in the other room, she knew, going through Ben’s old things. Had Ben been important to Poe, once upon a time?), she couldn’t help but feel a sudden stabbing of shame go through her. Finn. She’d thought she’d been keeping him safe on Kef Bir. Now she wondered if she was being ungrateful.  
  
“Finn,” she said. “Hey.”  
  
Finn sat next to her. “I didn’t really tell you,” he said. “That I was Force Sensitive.”  
  
Rey nodded. “I had a feeling,” she said. “I should have trained you earlier, Finn.”  
  
“There was a lot you should have done,” Finn said, and though he wasn’t outright shouting, Rey could feel that he was...let down. By her. She definitely didn’t want to do that to him.   
  
“I know. Finn...I shouldn’t have pushed you out of the way on Kef Bir. I suppose...” She took a deep breath. It wasn’t so much making excuses as much as Finn deserving to know the truth. “I thought I was keeping you safe. I _remembered_ what he did to you. That he hurt you.”  
  
“Yet you...”  
  
“It wasn’t love. Not in that sense. I suppose...” And even telling Finn everything, she could tell that his frustration and disappointment was starting to ebb. Which was good, she supposed. That he was starting to understand.   
  
“I know I’ve been selfish lately, Finn...”  
  
“Not really. Misguided, maybe. Stubborn maybe. But not selfish.”  
  
Rey’s nose crinkled in amusement despite herself. Then she faltered. “I thought you were with Rose, though.”  
  
“We haven’t been dating for a while,” Finn said. “She...doesn’t swing that way, Rey. I mean, she’s brilliant, and we’re friends but...she doesn’t swing that way.”  
  
“So she’s...”  
  
“Well, she thinks Jannah’s pretty cool.”  
  
Rey grinned. “I say good for both of them. Jannah _is_ cool.” Besides, considering how much Rose had been treated unfairly lately, she and Jannah deserved some happiness. Rey knew that.   
  
Finn continued. “The truth is, Rey...the moment I saw you on Jakku, the moment we had to escape the First Order together, I knew that there wasn’t another you. Or anyone else I’d rather protect with my life.”  
  
“I felt it too.” And it started coming together in that moment. “I thought Kylo understood how lonely I was. But when I’m with you, Finn...I feel safe.”  
  
“Yeah.” Finn smiled. Then, more seriously, “Rey...what are you gonna do next?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Rey said. “I know I need to do more research on my family. And give Luke and Leia’s sabers a proper burial. Just to name two.” A beat. “But you have a place in my future, Finn. You always have.”  
  
“Yeah.” Finn smiled again, and somehow, Rey felt more at peace than she had stepping into the Falcon. “I know.”


End file.
